Pete Caldera, Andrew Tredinnick talk MLB Winter Meetings news
NorthJersey.com’s Pete Caldera and Andrew Tredinnick break down how the second day at the Winter Meetings could impact the Yankees and Mets.
ORLANDO, Fla. – Reports of Kyle Schwarber’s five-year, $150 million Phillies contract surfaced as super-agent Scott Boras held court Tuesday at the Winter Meetings.
Given that massive contract for “a 33-year-old star level player,’’ Boras imagines “there’ll be a new platform for DH valuations going forward…because he certainly earned it.’’
Schwarber is not a Boras client, but Pete Alonso is, and Schwarber’s new deal – at $30 million annually for a full-time designated hitter – provides some guidance as to the cost of free-agent power hitters.
Boras’ more versatile free agent client, lefty-hitting outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger, might also find a Schwarber-type contract in this market.
But you wonder if the Yanks will go that distance to retain Bellinger, 30, despite how well he fits the Bronx dynamic.
Yankees’ competition for Cody Bellinger’s services
In Boras Speak, the agent listed Bellinger’s inquiring teams and included a reference to Yankees’ captain Aaron Judge, a beneficiary of Bellinger’s lineup presence…
“It’s not for me to Judge. But great players see Red if they have a big bat Yanked out of their lineup. I haven’t Met a team that Dodges a five-tool player.
“To Phil the center field need is a Giant step toward the playoffs. North and south, outfielders that fly with power, they’re rare Birds.
“In the offseason there’s a lot of start up to organizations and for that reason there’s a lot of Angel investors that are looking for very versatile outfielders.
“So, other than that, Belli doesn’t have much interest.’’
In other words, the Reds, Mets, Dodgers, Phillies, Giants and Angels are competing, at some level, with the Yanks for Bellinger, though Schwarber’s signing might cancel Philadelphia.
Yankees’ limits on a Cody Bellinger contract
Think of Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner’s “ideal’’ wish to get under the $304 million final luxury tax threshold, the lefty heavy Yanks’ lineup (though Bellinger hits lefty pitching) and the cold, quiet nature of their connection to any current big free agent.
Remember manager Aaron Boone saying “the gap is small” between the Yanks and AL champion Blue Jays, when referencing their similar 94-win regular seasons.
Opinions on their skillsets vary, but the Yanks have a center fielder (Trent Grisham), a switch-hitting left fielder (Jasson Dominguez) and a slugging outfielder-in-waiting (Spencer Jones).
You might begin to hear as much about Bellinger’s low hard-hit rate, his non-tender by the Dodgers after 2022 and his salary-dump trade by the Cubs last year as much as his low strikeout rate, .353 average vs. lefties last year and .909 OPS at Yankee Stadium.
Is it starting to feel like the Yankees will look for alternatives, especially in the trade market, with a payroll already at roughly $280 million?
Yankees’ ability to strike and spend
When it comes to finances, Boras still believes the Yankees will eventually step up.
According to Boras, when GM Brian Cashman and club president Randy Levine call, they don’t mention anything about a limited payroll.
“They talk about acquiring players,’’ said Boras, who referenced the Yanks’ $700 million-plus pursuit last December of his free agent client Juan Soto, who ultimately signed a record deal with the Mets.
“(Owner) Hal (Steinbrenner), Randy and Cash did everything they could possibly do to pursue a great talent,’’ said Boras. “I have no reason that they wouldn’t approach this market any different than that.’’
Steinbrenner has given Cashman familiar instructions to bring him any recommendations for consideration, regardless of price.
Boras wouldn’t say if Steinbrenner had personally entered the Bellinger negotiations, “but the Yankees have reached out about Cody, and we continue to talk.”
Only, Bellinger isn’t Soto.
At this time last year, you wondered how the Yankees would rebound if they somehow lost Soto. Now, you wonder again if it’s bye-bye Bellinger.